A successful weekend at Mt. SAC

Barstow's team time in Friday's Mt. San Antonio College Invitational was its second-fastest ever on the course, and the Aztecs won the boys Division III sweepstakes race by 54 points.

But the results aren't the most important thing for Barstow coach Jim Duarte.

It's the practice for a course known for its difficult hills, the place where the Aztecs and other High Desert teams will return for the CIF-Southern Section preliminaries and championships next month.

"It's a chance for the kids to learn what the course does," Duarte said. "Familiarize themselves with the hills and how to run in crowded parts."

As a team, Barstow ran the Walnut course in 79 minutes, 19 seconds.

In 2005, the Aztecs ran a time of 78 minutes, 9 seconds to win a section title.

Barstow's performance was part of a good weekend for local teams. Some of the highlights:

The Serrano girls outran Esperanza, Crescenta Valley, Murrieta Valley and Redlands - all of whom are ranked ahead of them in the SS-Div. I rankings - and finished in sixth in the Super Sweepstakes race.

The D'backs also ran their second-fastest time on the course - next to their 2004 section finals time - and the top five all broke 20 minutes.

Yet the girls feel that they can improve on the hilly course, said Serrano coach Ken Quinn.

"We're pleased because none of the girls are happy, but yet we beat a handful of teams ranked ahead of us," Quinn said. "That's a good sign."

Serrano moved up to ninth in this week's Southern Section Div. I rankings.

Only 51 seconds separated the No. 19 runner from the 70th in the boys team sweepstakes race, in which both Apple Valley and Granite Hills participated.

Apple Valley coach John Nunes, said that this should help his squad get used to running in big packs, something that his squad hasn't experienced much.

Silverado coach Burt Taylor said he was pleased with his team's efforts over the weekend despite limited hill experience.

The Hawks plan on doing more hill workouts over the next couple of weeks and hope to get at least five girls under 20 minutes at the preliminaries, which none of its runners did on Saturday. If that's the case, Taylor feels the Hawks will have success.

The Hesperia Christian girls combined to complete the Mt. SAC course on Friday in 113:53, which was the seventh-fastest Div. V time.

RUNNERS OF THE WEEK: Boys - Granite Hills senior Nick Kelley ran the fastest High Desert Mt. SAC time at this season's meet. Kelley finished the course in 15 minutes, 24 seconds which was good enough for third place in the boys team sweepstakes race.

MARQUEE MEETS: The Academy for Academic Excellence will be hosting the first-ever Agape League Championship meet next Tuesday at 4 p.m. While Hesperia Christian pretty much has the league title locked up on both the boys and girls sides, Victor Valley Christian's Nick Osborne and Apple Valley Christian's Sam Singery will continue to battle for the league's top boys individual spot.

DSL - Silverado hosts Granite Hills in a girls meet pitting the league's two undefeated teams against each other today at 3:45 p.m. The winner will be in the driver's seat for a league title at next week's finals.

MRL - Dust off your stopwatch and do some neck exercises in preparation for today's Apple Valley-Sultana boys dual meet at Sultana, which will have the same implications as the Cougars-Hawks girls meet. Each team has several strong runners and there could be some very fast times.

C.J. Daft can be reached via e-mail at christiand@vvdailypress.com or at 951-6275.

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